VMware has DirectX 9 now with their latest beta
- Thread starter Stevamundo
- Start date
Stevamundo
Pro
Thank you Stacey.
primitivehuman
Bit poster
I'm still trying to get Moment of Inspiration - a CAD/3d modeling program - to work. I've enabled Directx support on my Parallels Desktop 3.0 (build 5160) running Windows XP Professional (SP2). I've increased the video memory to 64mb and have the RAM usage set to 1 gig just to make sure that it wasn't an issue. My computer is a new intel Macbook Core Duo 2 GHz (black) with 2 gigabytes of RAM running Tiger 10.4.10. It runs, but will not display the viewport. Instead it is transparent showing the windows desktop behind. This was running in single window mode.The software really has no match in the native Mac platform. You can download a free demo of the latest build (moi_Sep-4-2007.exe) from the MOI website here:
Some info about MOI (Moment of Inspiration)
MoI is by Michael Gibson, one of the original creators of Rhino, who left and went to Microsoft for awhile, and is now out on his own. MoI is based on Rhino in the sense that he is using OpenNurbs, which is essentially the Rhino kernel. OpenNurbs is available to anyone for free.
Some info about MOI (Moment of Inspiration)
MoI is by Michael Gibson, one of the original creators of Rhino, who left and went to Microsoft for awhile, and is now out on his own. MoI is based on Rhino in the sense that he is using OpenNurbs, which is essentially the Rhino kernel. OpenNurbs is available to anyone for free.
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Hugh Watkins
Forum Maven
I just got Direct X 9 it by Windows update in the usual way
It pays to subscribe to the MS Newsletters
like
Microsoft Download Notifications
see https://profile.microsoft.com and register
Hugh W
It pays to subscribe to the MS Newsletters
like
Microsoft Download Notifications
see https://profile.microsoft.com and register
Hugh W
As Stacy already said, Parallels is going to add DX9 support, but doesn't have it yet. MoI requires DX9.
we expected more from this company
Uh, Hugh... "DirectX 9" is really three parts:
1. You must have the "DirectX 9" software from Microsoft. This is what you have. This is merely the software that makes everything work. If you have DirectX 9, then you can run any software that requires DirectX 9 or earlier.
2. You must have drivers that are "DirectX 9 compliant", this means that they were written with knowledge of DirectX 9. This does *NOT* mean that they have to support each and every feature of DirectX 9. I have a positively ancient Matrox video card that has no "hardware texture and lighting", yet it has DirectX 9 drivers. This doesn't mean I get all the latest greatest special effects, but it means I *CAN* run software that requires DirectX 9. (If the software truly requires hardware texture and lighting, or pixel or vertex shaders, then I'm out of luck, though.) This is what VMWare just released. They released drivers that are "DirectX 9 compliant", but do not support ALL of the fancy features.
3. You need DirectX 9 compatible hardwrare. Rather obviously, if you have DirectX 9 drivers, it means you have to have DirectX 9 compatible hardware to run it on. This is where things get tricky. In the video card business, video cards are usually classified by the version of DirectX that supports ALL of their features, and no more. So while an ATI Radeon 7000 may have come out when DirectX 7 was the current version, and it does support all the features of DirectX 7, it has DirectX 9 compatible drivers, even though it doesn't support all the features of DirectX 9. Even though it has DirectX 9 drivers, it is generally called a "DirectX 7-class" card. By comparison, an ATI Radeon 9800 came out when DirectX 9 was the current version, and supports all DirectX 9 features. Therefore, it is generally called a "DirectX 9-class" card. This is in spite of the fact that it is obviously backward compatible with DirectX 7.
The only sticky point is the new DirectX 10 in Windows Vista. Windows Vista actually keeps two separate versions of DirectX on the system. Both 9 and 10. Unlike previous versions, where a DirectX 9-requiring game will run on older hardware, just with eye candy turned off, DirectX 10 truly REQUIRES "DirectX 10-class" card. This means an ATI Radeon HD 2xxx series or an nVidia GeForce 8xxx series. If you have an older card, you cannot run DirectX 10-only software. But, so far, I have yet to hear of a piece of "DirectX 10-only" software. They all have DirectX 9 modes as well. (Which, again, can run on even hardware that is "DirectX 7-class".
But, software makers are always free to impose other requirements as well. For example, Intel's integrated "GMA 950" video has pixel shaders, but it does not have hardware texture and lighting, and vertex shaders are handled by the host processor (although the card claims to have "hardware" vertex shaders, it uses the host processor to do the actual work.) Therefore, it is both "DirectX 9-class" hardware (pixel shaders,) yet it won't pass some DirectX 7 tests, because it is lacking hardware texture and lighting.
1. You must have the "DirectX 9" software from Microsoft. This is what you have. This is merely the software that makes everything work. If you have DirectX 9, then you can run any software that requires DirectX 9 or earlier.
2. You must have drivers that are "DirectX 9 compliant", this means that they were written with knowledge of DirectX 9. This does *NOT* mean that they have to support each and every feature of DirectX 9. I have a positively ancient Matrox video card that has no "hardware texture and lighting", yet it has DirectX 9 drivers. This doesn't mean I get all the latest greatest special effects, but it means I *CAN* run software that requires DirectX 9. (If the software truly requires hardware texture and lighting, or pixel or vertex shaders, then I'm out of luck, though.) This is what VMWare just released. They released drivers that are "DirectX 9 compliant", but do not support ALL of the fancy features.
3. You need DirectX 9 compatible hardwrare. Rather obviously, if you have DirectX 9 drivers, it means you have to have DirectX 9 compatible hardware to run it on. This is where things get tricky. In the video card business, video cards are usually classified by the version of DirectX that supports ALL of their features, and no more. So while an ATI Radeon 7000 may have come out when DirectX 7 was the current version, and it does support all the features of DirectX 7, it has DirectX 9 compatible drivers, even though it doesn't support all the features of DirectX 9. Even though it has DirectX 9 drivers, it is generally called a "DirectX 7-class" card. By comparison, an ATI Radeon 9800 came out when DirectX 9 was the current version, and supports all DirectX 9 features. Therefore, it is generally called a "DirectX 9-class" card. This is in spite of the fact that it is obviously backward compatible with DirectX 7.
The only sticky point is the new DirectX 10 in Windows Vista. Windows Vista actually keeps two separate versions of DirectX on the system. Both 9 and 10. Unlike previous versions, where a DirectX 9-requiring game will run on older hardware, just with eye candy turned off, DirectX 10 truly REQUIRES "DirectX 10-class" card. This means an ATI Radeon HD 2xxx series or an nVidia GeForce 8xxx series. If you have an older card, you cannot run DirectX 10-only software. But, so far, I have yet to hear of a piece of "DirectX 10-only" software. They all have DirectX 9 modes as well. (Which, again, can run on even hardware that is "DirectX 7-class".
But, software makers are always free to impose other requirements as well. For example, Intel's integrated "GMA 950" video has pixel shaders, but it does not have hardware texture and lighting, and vertex shaders are handled by the host processor (although the card claims to have "hardware" vertex shaders, it uses the host processor to do the actual work.) Therefore, it is both "DirectX 9-class" hardware (pixel shaders,) yet it won't pass some DirectX 7 tests, because it is lacking hardware texture and lighting.
Hugh Watkins
Forum Maven
thank you
I realised after posting that I was naive
I am so busy I never have time for games
since the Sinclar ZX days
Ant Attack
this MacBook Pro has
ATI Radeon X1600:
Chipset Model: ATY,RadeonX1600
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x71c5
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-xxxxxx-086
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.086
Displays:
Color LCD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Depth: 32-bit Color
Built-In: Yes
Core Image: Supported
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Cinema HD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Supported
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
I have an old Flight Simulator on a seven year old machine
but as a former pilot I need three screens to keep a good look out
and then a two hour flight takes two hours to play
so what compatability is there on my new machine with the ATI Radeon X1600
lease?
Hugh W
I realised after posting that I was naive
I am so busy I never have time for games
since the Sinclar ZX days
Ant Attack
this MacBook Pro has
ATI Radeon X1600:
Chipset Model: ATY,RadeonX1600
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x71c5
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-xxxxxx-086
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.086
Displays:
Color LCD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Depth: 32-bit Color
Built-In: Yes
Core Image: Supported
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Cinema HD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Supported
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
I have an old Flight Simulator on a seven year old machine
but as a former pilot I need three screens to keep a good look out
and then a two hour flight takes two hours to play
so what compatability is there on my new machine with the ATI Radeon X1600
lease?Hugh W
As far as running flight sim under parallel Windows XP, forget it. Not enough horse power for the newest flight sim (they all need direct X 9.0).
You would need bootcamp to run it satisfactorily.
Or you can try x-plane at http://www.x-plane.com/ on the mac side. Though I do not know how it reacts with 3 monitors
You would need bootcamp to run it satisfactorily.
Or you can try x-plane at http://www.x-plane.com/ on the mac side. Though I do not know how it reacts with 3 monitors
Hugh Watkins
Forum Maven
no the way to go for Flight Sim addicts is chair throttle pedals and all
ideally the chair rotates and swings to give a G sensation
the WW2 Link Trainer worked as an analog system driven by compressed air like some church organs (invented by an organ buider)
I had the use of one at the Ulster Flrying Club in about 1967
great fun
Hugh W
ideally the chair rotates and swings to give a G sensation
the WW2 Link Trainer worked as an analog system driven by compressed air like some church organs (invented by an organ buider)
I had the use of one at the Ulster Flrying Club in about 1967
great fun
Hugh W
primitivehuman
Bit poster
Just an update. The newest version of MoI works on Parallels now. Frankie...I read Stacy's post. I was only trying to let others know about MOI and try to help raise awareness of a good product that needed Dx support. I know that older builds of Parallels had experimental Dx support. That was why I even bothered with extensive testing in the first place. I was hoping that Parallels' limited support for Dx would be enough to run Moment of Inspiration as it's not a very graphics intensive program at all. I'm not sure if MoI's system requirements specifically stated Dx9 support was required at the time of my previous post, but it does now. Moreover, I've learned that the developer of MoI wasn't concerned about a Mac release initially, but he's probably happy now to have his program working on Macs.
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